Something Genuine
by LotusHana
Summary: AU: Everyone has someone out there who genuinely cares for their well-being. It's just hard to know if someone truly does. DEAD.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Even though I was interested in writing a fanfic for _Angel Beats!_, I was kind of hesitant to do so due to the fact that AU fanfics are rare amongst the fanfiction archive of Key-related works or more accurately, multi-chaptered fanfics. (Oneshots are more popular.) But personally, I think it's just the fact that people are too afraid of going against Jun Maeda's well-developed backgrounds and plot for the works. :P

Summary - Yui herself had never been very athletic. But when she ends up being in last place at the endurance run, she receives the title of: "Belphegor", after the demon that represents the sin of sloth. The day after she gets into a car accident and is paralyzed from the waist down, bounding her to a wheelchair. A few years later she discovers that Hinata, as punishment for failing to get a fly ball during an important baseball game, is suppose to help her around school and aid her in doing daily activities. Will she see his concern as pity for her condition or as something genuine?

* * *

It was another cold and brisk fall afternoon. The sounds of my feet against the hard concrete echoed loudly inside my head. My heart pounded loudly against my chest. My gasps for air coming out as white clouds of steam from my mouth. No one else is with me. I promised to catch up with them later when I got my strength back. I'm running now.

"_Just…a little longer…" _

The only thing on my mind was to eventually reach the finish line. That was all I cared about.

"_Huh…? There it is!" _There was a long white line painted on the street. A lot of people were near it, chatting to each other. One of them saw me and waved.

"Yui!"

Using all of my strength, I ran to the finish line, my arms in the air. I could hear the loud cheers as I did one huge leap over the finish line, a wide smile on my face. The crowd came over to me, congratulating on finally reaching the finish line.

But no such thing happened. Instead, people sighed and shook their heads as I ran over to my friends to greet them.

"Her again?"

"She's always the last one, isn't she?"

"You would think she would get better by now."

"Was I…in last place again?" My friends looked at each other hesitantly before giving me a response.

"Yeah….but don't worry! There's always next time, right?"

"How can you say that?"

I turned to see a group of girls approaching us. They stayed away from me at a safe distance.

"This is the third time that this has happened! We can't let her go off that easily!"

"Don't listen to them, Yui," my friend whispered into my ear, "They're part of the track team. They're just being selfish pricks about it."

"No, she has to be punished!"

"She just got in last place! You can't punish her for that!"

"Fine. We won't do anything severe. We'll just give her a humiliating nickname."

I looked up. I honestly couldn't see how anyone can give a humiliating nickname to a girl who was constantly stuck in last place on the endurance run.

After they were done talking, the girls turned around to face us, their faces filled with glee. I braced myself, waiting for them to say a name that would soon brand me as the village idiot.

"From now on, people of Kami High are to call you: 'Belphegor'!"

It was that day I was given the title of "Belphegor". Honestly, I had no clue what the name meant. The only thing I knew was that it had something to do with sloths. Like the ones you see in a zoo.

* * *

I ran for my dad's car as fast as I could. The door slammed shut behind me as I slumped forward in my seat. Today was tiring. I needed a nap.

"I heard your classmates calling you Bel-chan a while ago," my dad said as he started the car, "What's up with that?"

"Oh, it's just a nickname." I didn't want to explain the events that happened yesterday. Since not a lot of people could pronounce my new name correctly, they often shortened it into "Bel-chan" for short. "You know that sloth back in the zoo? That's where the nickname comes from."

In the zoo across from my house, there was this sloth with the same name as the nickname I now had. I remembered always cheering it on while it moved slowly to reach the top leaves of the trees it was in. A lot of people stared at me like I was weird, but I remembered clapping my hands in an imaginary applause, when she finally did get to eat the top leaves.

The sound of tires screeching interrupted my thoughts when I saw my dad turn the wheel out of desperation. A loud boom echoed in my ears. The next thing I knew, I was flying out of my seat headfirst into the front window of the car.

* * *

******A/N: **Prologue is short. My first time handling first person POV so it's kind of flawed. Constructive criticism is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This chapter is much, much more better than my previous chapter in my opinion. The prologue was originally much longer but the major problem was that it ended up killing the intended mood of the chapter and I had to edit stuff out. Sad really. T_T

* * *

It was a perfectly normal Tuesday morning. Lunchtime at Kami High. Also springtime during this time of year. I was in the baseball field, practicing. You could still hear the sounds of yesterday's baseball game echoing across the field. The loud cheers from the bleachers….the coach shouting encouragements from the dugout….the grunts of the other players as they swung their baseball bat or took off from their base….

I wiped my brow as the sun shone down on my back. None of my teammates knew I was here. The bleachers were empty. No one there to cheer me on. Clouds of dust swirled around my feet as the wind started to pick up. Stretching out my arms and adjusting my cap, I rested the bat against my shoulder. I stared at my opponent straight in the eye, hoping to intimidate it. I wasn't going to lose this battle.

The wheels spun with a small click and a pop sounded as a baseball was released from it. Not wasting a second, I swung my bat as hard as I could. My bat struck the baseball and it flew across the field. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better view of where the ball had landed. It was right near the fence surrounding the bleachers. Shaking my head, I glared at my opponent who stood on the pitcher mound innocently.

"It's on." Putting in all of my strength, I swung my bat again as another baseball was released from the pitching machine. This time, the ball soared high, going beyond the fence into the bleachers. I pumped my fist in the air, "Yes! A home run!" But that was when I noticed something bright and pink on the bleachers. Did someone left a towel behind?

Taking a closer look, I saw it was a girl with long pink hair in short pigtails. She wore the sailor fuku uniform, indicating that she was a year younger than me. The only difference was that she wore shackles on her wrists, black short net stockings, a forked tail waving from side to side, and a pair of bat-like wings sticking out of her back. It was only until I noticed her tail that I saw she was on a wheelchair. She was clutching her head in pain, a baseball and a lunch box sitting on her lap.

"That hurt….."

I bent down to her height, "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you." When she looked up, I almost fell over from surprise and fear. Her pink eyes were filled with fury as she fixed a glare at me.

"You!" she snarled, "So you were the one who hit me with that baseball, you little-"

Even though she was angry, I couldn't help but say, "Who are you calling little?" Judging from her uniform, she was a sophomore at my high school. Not to mention, she was very short. You would think she would treat her senior with more respect instead of cursing at him.

"You, bastard! Who else am I talking to? I came out to have lunch but then you ruined it by hitting me with a baseball!"

"Hey, it was an accident," I defended myself, "Don't jump to conclusions without letting people explain first!"

She snorted, "Yeah, right. You know what they say: 'The criminal always try to play innocent at the scene of the crime.'"

"….And who said that?"

"I did."

I could feel a vein bulge on my forehead. I swore, if I spend any more time trying to argue with this girl, I was going to go insane. "Look," I told her as patiently as I could, "Can you just give me the ball back?"

Suddenly, something made impact with the bridge of my nose. I fell over backwards, covering my nose with my hands in pain. The baseball bounced on the concrete floor, landing right next to my head.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I shouted when I sat up. There was no blood, but my nose hurt like hell.

She cupped a hand over her ear, "What's that? I think I heard someone but all I see is this squashed cockroach." I'm just a cockroach now?

Unable to take it anymore, I reached out, trying to grab her into a choking hold until she made her wheelchair slide backwards. However, her wheelchair tripped over something, causing her to fall out of her chair onto the concrete floor. The lunchbox on her lap flew upwards, the lid coming off. The next thing I knew, it was raining pieces of chicken on the girl's head.

"Ah….." It was pretty obvious what was going to happen next. Yet, I couldn't help find the sight of the girl's pink hair covered with chicken slightly hilarious. "Pfft…." Crap. I'm snickering already.

Flames of rage slowly surrounded her body. Her left eyebrow was twitching ever so slightly. You could hear a tiger-like growl rumbling from her throat. I had two options now:

1. Stay here and attempt to defend myself in any way possible.

2. ….Run away like the wind.

Naturally…I picked option 2.

I sprinted for the nearest exit out of the baseball field. I could hear the girl scrambling to get back on her wheelchair and chase after me. I refused to look back. My gut was screaming at me to run away as fast as I could. I quickly swung open the gate and saw the sports equipment shed. Perfect! I could hide in there!

An orange-haired boy around my age was walking around the corner and noticed me, waving his hand in greeting, "Oh, Hinata-"

I grabbed him by the neck, "No time to explain!" I shut the door behind us as I ran into the sports equipment shed. I could hear the girl's shouts as she continued searching for me.

"Where the fuck is he?"

A few minutes passed until I no longer heard her voice. I sighed as I slumped against the door. It was completely dark in the shed. No source of light anywhere. I could swear there was a bunch of scattered hockey sticks next to my foot. I must've knocked over some stuff during my moment of panic.

"Hinata…."

"Huh?"

"I can't breathe."

"Oh. Sorry about that, Otonashi." I released my hold on the boy I grabbed onto earlier. Even though it was dark, I could imagine him rubbing the back of his head.

My friend, Yuzuru Otonashi, was also my classmate and even sat in the seat next to me. He was only in Kami High for a month but the two of us had become close friends. He was a pretty nice guy overall and was strongly interested in medics, biology, health, stuff like that. One would think we wouldn't really get along, considering the fact that I was an athlete. And athletes are usually pricks to new students. But since I was a fairly new addition to the baseball team after practicing for a few years, we weren't really that different from each other. Yes. Our friendship was one to be treasured, which is why I didn't want anything to-

The door that I was leaning against suddenly swung open with a loud thump, causing me to fall right on the floor. Light poured into the shed, almost blinding my sight of vision. A dark figure entered the shed and stared down at me. "What do you think you're doing with Otonashi, piece of scum?"

Oh right. I forgot about him.

A boy dressed in a black school uniform with a matching hat tilted over his face, bent over to look at me straight in the eye, "I'll ask again: 'What do you think you're doing with Otonashi, piece of scum?'" His golden eyes were piercing, having the same expression an interrogator would have when talking to a criminal.

"Um….chatting?"

If people think that all the guys involved in sports are usually egotistical jerks, then they haven't met Ayato Naoi, student council vice president of Kami High. Naoi is so full of himself, that he believes that he's some kind of god. I fear for all of Japan if he somehow became emperor.

"Hi, Naoi-kun," Otonashi greeted him politely, "Aren't you suppose to be at the student council meeting?"

"I was, but then I was wondering whether or not you wanted to have lunch with me, Otonashi!" You could literally see the sparkles of admiration shining off his face. Seeing that he was distracted, I took the chance to sit up and sent a withering glare in his direction.

The most annoying thing about Naoi however, is how he'll address like you're the lowest life form on Earth, but whenever Otonashi is around, he'll immediately start acting like the love-stricken fangirl he is. Oops. I mean, fanboy.

"Well, I have to study…..But since I lost some time I guess it won't hurt…"

"Is it because of this lowlife here?" Naoi looked at me in disgust.

"Look, I've already been called a cockroach. I don't need to be called a piece of scum or a lowlife by _you_."

"I applaud that person, whoever called you that."

"That isn't something to be celebrated about!"

"You're right. That person doesn't only deserve applause. But a trophy for calling you the most creative title ever."

"Wait a minute! I'm the main character here! Why am I already being treated like a butt monkey in the first chapter?"

"Because that is the position God bestowed you to carry in your life." He dramatically pointed a finger at me, "Accept your status, you mere insect!"

I almost banged my head against the wall in frustration. Exhaustion threatened to take me over. I really can't handle this anymore. Are people still going to treat me like this even when I grow old?

"Forget this….I'm going back to practice." I got up to go but Naoi's voice stopped me from reaching the door.

"Oh, one more thing, scum."

Naoi pulled his hat over his face, "Actually…I came here to tell you that the principal wants you in his office. Now."

I froze, "…For what?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. He didn't say."

Even though I asked that, I had a feeling I knew what this was about. Yesterday's game. Did the news already spread to the principal's office?

"Hinata?"

Otonashi looked at me with concern, "Are you…going to be alright? If you want, I can come with you."

I shook my head and smiled, "It's okay. The principal asked for me anyway, so there's no point in you going. I'll handle this myself." My smile felt stiff. I was lying. There was no way I was going to be okay by myself.

* * *

"Ugh! This is so embarrassing!"

The water poured out of the faucet as I splashed water on my hair, trying to fix it. I took a piece of chicken between my fingers and threw it in the trash bin. I looked a total mess. My reflection in the mirror showed it. My hair stuck out at every end and there were sauce stains on my uniform.

"Yui!" My friend came into the bathroom holding my gym uniform. "Do you want to change now?"

"Yeah." I took my gym uniform and moved into one of the bathroom stalls. "Sorry about this. Even though you're going to be late for your next class."

"Don't worry about it. You don't have an accomplice so it's the best I can do. Do you need any help?"

I put on my gym shirt, "No. I can do it by myself." Luckily, I was only paralyzed from the waist down. I could still move my arms. The memory of the accident that caused my paralysis made me shiver. I didn't lose a lot of blood. But the lower area of my spinal cord was so badly injured that I couldn't walk or even move my toes again.

"I heard you got detention today. What happened?"

"I was chasing this dude until a teacher saw me in the hallway. She said that even though I was on a wheelchair, I was still going so fast that I could've knocked someone over." I rolled my eyes, "I tried telling her that I was looking for someone who got chicken all over me but she didn't listen to a word I said." I made a fist, shaking with anger, "I swear, I'm going to punish that guy for getting me in detention if it's the last thing I do…."

"Do you want me to call your mom? She's picking you up, right? But you're going to be late since you have detention today."

"Sure. Call her."

Unfortunately, because of the accident, my mom is a single mother now. My dad died during the crash. I couldn't remember what happened because I was out cold by the time the ambulance came. All I know was that they couldn't save him. He left us, leaving my mom the task to take care of me. Whenever I came home, my mom would always greet me cheerfully at the door and ask how my day was. And then she would ask if I would like anything to eat or felt like taking a shower. Her hands were kind and gentle, but I could tell that her face had lines of weariness ever since my dad's death.

I put my school uniform in a bag along with my accessories. I didn't want my mom to be burdened by me. With no accomplice to help me around school, I had no way of how to lift the worry and concern off my mom's shoulders. All of my friends were in different classes or too busy to help me out. There was no one else I was particularly close to. The only thing I could do was to go on my own and overcome any obstacle that came in my way.

* * *

The classroom was completely empty. Everyone had already packed up and went home. I was the only student there, sitting on my desk near the front row of seats. The other person besides me in the room was standing next to the chalkboard. On it was written in big white letters: "Detention". I rolled my eyes. She didn't have to write it on the board for the whole world to see. It's humiliation enough to stay in class after school when everyone else got to go home.

"Can I go home yet?" I whined, "I'm bored!"

"Deal with it," said my teacher, "You have another ten minutes."

I groaned as I lay back in my wheelchair. Ten minutes was too long! Even though I was only half-paralyzed, I still couldn't stand being stuck in a room for more than three minutes.

A loud knock on the door made me look up. My teacher went to the door to open it. To my surprise, the principal was standing there, adjusting his tie as he whispered something to my teacher. Her eyebrows scrunched together in a frown and she turned her head to look at me.

"Yui-san. The principal wants to see you."

I stiffened. Did the principal heard about me running in the hallways? Well, technically not running, but going around the school at high speeds just to look for this boy who ruined her school uniform?

The principal cleared his throat, "I'd appreciate it if you hurry up. I have a meeting to attend to soon."

"O-Oh…Coming!" I carefully navigated my way around the row of seats as I came closer to the front door, "Where are we going?"

The principal headed out to the hallway without once giving me a single glance, "To my office."

I gulped. Maybe he really did hear about why I landed in detention. I desperately try to think of an excuse that would get me out of this. First, it wasn't my fault. It was that guy's fault for getting chicken all over me. Not to mention, he hit me with a baseball too! I had every right to get mad at him!

We were getting closer and closer to the principal's office. I took in a deep breath, telling myself to relax. If I just explained everything, it would all be okay….

"Can you wait here for a minute?" The principal walked into his office and closed the door behind him. I was left outside in front of the door, wondering what was going on. I could hear him talking to someone, who replied back. I could've sworn that the other voice sounded familiar. Curious, I placed my ear against the door.

"No one else…..been by herself for all these years…."

"Not even in the same class…..What's the point…."

"…the team suggested…..the perfect candidate for this kind of job…."

This seemed to cause a moment of silence to pass in the office, for I did not hear the other person's voice speak up against whatever the principal said. Now even more interested, I pressed my ear harder against the wooden frame, eager to hear more of their conversation.

That was when the door opened; making me almost fell out of my wheelchair for the second time that day. The principal stood in the doorway, looking straight at me. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Did he know that I was eavesdropping?

"I-I wasn't eavesdropping!" I protested while waving my hands wildly, "I-I was only checking whether or not the door was soundproof!"

The principal didn't seem to be listening to what I was saying and gestured to the person behind him, "Yui-san, I'd like you to meet your accomplice as of today and the rest of your school years in Kami High. Hideki Hinata!"

He stepped aside to reveal a tall teenage boy with short blue hair. His uniform was unkept, the black coat of his school uniform unbuttoned giving him an unprofessional (and idiotic) appearance. His purple eyes stared at me with little to no interest until they widened upon recognition of who I was. I felt my jaw drop open in shock as I stared back at him. After a couple of seconds, I managed to make a sound come out of my throat, our voices echoing throughout the hallway as we both voiced the same current thought on our minds.

"YOU!"

* * *

**A/N: **Yui's name is not confirmed in the anime whether or not it is her last name or first name so the teachers are going to call her "Yui-san" in this fanfic. Speaking of which, I'm not sure whether or not I should refer to Hinata as "Hinata" or "Hideki", his first name, which was only revealed in the light novels. I think "Hinata", since a lot more people are familiar with the anime then the light novels.

Please feel free to give constructive criticism. This is my first time writing in first person so I would like to know whether I did a good job on it or not.


	3. Chapter 2

**Yuzuru's Angel: **In this fanfic, Yui's only paralyzed from the waist down. I didn't want this story to start off too serious, since Yui's paralysis would be holding back her usually upbeat personality. Though that's just my opinion.

Sorry about that. I find Hinata kind of hard to work with. The anime didn't really go into him all that much. (Trauma from losing a baseball game didn't give him enough depth.) And I've only read the first chapter of the light novels so I have no clear idea of how he is as the main character.

**Nanami:** Thank you. I thought the transitions were a bit rough, but glad to know that you find it perfectly okay. And well-written? I still think this fanfic has a long way to go before it can be seen that way. 0_0

* * *

When the principal asked me to become the accomplice of a girl who was half-paralyzed, I imagined a sickly and insecure girl in a wheelchair. What I didn't expect was to see the same girl with a devil-like appearance that wrongly accused me of hitting her earlier.

"Listen," I said to the principal, "You can't do this to me. How am I supposed to help her anyways? Only her legs are paralyzed. She could still move her arms and head, right? She doesn't need any help." I decided not to tell him the fact that the girl sort of held a grudge against me.

"But she needs someone to make sure she gets to her next class safely. What would you do if someone accidentally pushes her down the staircase? You have to watch her. Besides, your class schedule matches with her's perfectly. I'll explain to your teachers. They'll understand." He smiled at the girl cheerfully, "Well, I hope you'll find him to your liking, Yui-san. If it still doesn't work out, tell me about it. I'll try my best to find you a replacement." With that, he went back inside of his office. I shook my head. In what way, did he see this could work out?

"Honestly…I told him many times that I didn't need an accomplice." The girl in the wheelchair muttered to herself. Her pink eyes were glazed over, staring down at her shoes. She let out a heavy sigh, "I guess I'll have to put up with you for now. What was your name again?"

"Um….Hideki Hinata." Didn't the principal tell her that already?

"I'm Yui," she introduced herself, "But everyone else here calls me 'Belphegor'. You can call me 'Bel-chan' for short if you want."

"Bel…what?" If that was supposed to be a nickname, it was a strange one.

"Belphegor. People gave me that name when I ended up at last place in the endurance run." Yui turned her chair around, her back facing me, "You know there's this sloth with the same name at the zoo near here. She barely moves, but it doesn't bother her."

"Oh. I get it. She was named after the demon that represents the sin of sloth, right?" I remember my history teacher mentioning it once. The seven deadly sins. But the only reason why I remembered the sin of sloth was because I had fallen asleep in the middle of the class and my teacher used me as an example of what the sin of sloth meant.

"Sin of sloth? What is that? Something like a sin that turns you into a sloth?"

"Not that kind of sloth. I'm talking about stuff like laziness and being irresponsible. That's what the sin of sloth means."

Her eyes widened at the information she just heard, "S-So the name had nothing to do with an actual sloth?"

I shook my head, "Nope. You didn't know that?" Lines of depression ran down her forehead as she slumped forward in her wheelchair. That look gave it all away. She really didn't know that. Then again, the subject of the seven deadly sins wasn't particularly very popular. And it was just a scary coincidence that she knew a sloth that was named after the demon.

She abruptly cleared her throat, "A-Anyway….What are you going to address me by?"

"Huh?"

"You're my accomplice! Since you're going to be helping me out as long as you're in Kami High, it's important how you address me. Obviously, I'm calling you: 'sempai' since you're older than me."

I thought about it for a moment. I wasn't exactly comfortable calling her by her actual name. It just didn't feel right.

"Belphegor is too hard for me to remember…" I muttered to myself, "Hm…..I know! How about 'Sloth Girl'?"

'Sloth Girl' wrinkled her nose in disgust, "'Sloth Girl'? Are you serious?"

"What's wrong with it? I think it's perfect, seeing how you're named after the demon that represents the sin of sloth."

"'Cause it's weird!" she whined, "You could at least call me 'Bel-chan'. It's cuter."

I made a face, "'Bel-chan' is way too girly. Sloth Girl is much better."

She clenched her fingers tightly around the handles of her wheelchair. "Never…" she murmured. "If you're going to call me that, then I'm not going to talk to you when you call me," she said like a stubborn child. Her mind made up, she started heading for the vending machines across from the main office. I sighed heavily. This girl was so not cute.

Yui was struggling to reach for the top of the vending machine, trying to reach for the button that had a picture of an orange juice can on it. An idea came to me. I could easily use this to my advantage.

I stood behind her, "You know, you could just ask for help if you need it."

She looked up at me expectantly, eagerness shining in her eyes, "Really? Then can you get me some orange juice? I'm thirsty."

I placed a hand under my chin, pretending to be deep in thought, "Hm...I'll think about it...but only if you let me call you: 'Sloth Girl'."

She pouted, "No."

"...Or how about this? If you let me call you 'Sloth Girl', then you will get your orange juice. If not, you won't get your orange juice and I'll force you to call me 'Hinacchi' for the rest of the year."

"That's not fair!" she retorted in anger, "How come you get two benefits out of it if I say 'no'?"

"Because I'm your accomplice. There has to be a peaceful relationship and negotiation between us. Work with me here."

Yui huffed loudly, her cheeks puffing up out of annoyance. She glared at me for a long time, considering her options. Her tongue ran over her parched lips and her eyes would glance back to the orange juice hungrily every now and then. Finally, she let out a sigh, defeated.

"Fine. But you're paying for it."

I nodded my head in agreement, "Deal." I reached over and pressed the button for the orange juice on the vending machine. Taking whatever change I had left in my pocket, I carefully inserted two coins into the slot. A sound of something dispensing from the machine was heard as Yui bent over and took out the can of juice. She smiled in content after she took a sip.

"Ahhhh~ That was so good~"

"So what do I do? Now that I'm your accomplice?" I asked. Even though I still didn't like the idea, I had to be with her for until I graduated. It wasn't like I was going to be with her for the rest of my life. I might as well make the best of it.

"Oh...Um..." She frowned. She probably never thought about it before. "I guess...take me home? I had detention today, so my mom has to pick me up late." For the first time, I noticed that the spiritedness that usually shone in her eyes grew dim at the mention of her mom. Odd. She gave off the impression of an energetic and foul-mouthed girl to me. Then again, she was paralyzed from the waist down. Who knew what kind of thoughts ran through her head? I wondered if I had came off as insensitive before. Panic seized my heart, making me nervous. What if I did? I mentally scowled myself. I reminded myself to be more sympathetic from now on since I was going to be her accomplice.

"But aside from that, I think you're just here to watch over me." She stuck out her bottom lip, "I don't like it though. No matter how I look at it, it just sounds like you're my babysitter or something." She shuddered at the thought. I had to admit, it disturbed me as well. There was no other word I could think of that sounded like a better substitute for it. She didn't need legs. Her wheelchair was her replacement. The only problem I could see that she might have was reaching for high places like the vending machine.

"I guess there is some good that might come out of this though," Yui suddenly said, smiling to herself. Her smile was bittersweet, mixed with sorrow and gratitude that I didn't understand.

* * *

"So you're an accomplice of this disabled girl now?" asked Otonashi. We were both hanging out together during lunch in the cafeteria. The chatter of the other students bounced off the walls of the cafeteria, people lining up to hand in their lunch tickets, which had the name of the dish that were to be given to them by the lunch ladies. I brought a spoonful of pork rice to my mouth, savoring the amazing flavor in my mouth. I can't imagine anyone skipping out on the school's lunch. It was guaranteed to send anyone to heaven. Otonashi sat across from me, with a bowl of udon in front of him.

"Yeah," I answered, "Our classes happened to be on the same floor so I guess that's why the principal thought it would work out. Kind of creepy when I think about it. I mean, yesterday was the first time I've ever met her."

"Think of it this way: it might turn out to be a great experience," he suggested. I thought about it. Me? Enjoying Yui's company? The memory of her angry face flashed through my mind. Nope. Not happening.

"I still don't understand it though. Aren't you better for this kind of job? You did say that you wanted to be a doctor."

"I do," he said, "But I still think you're overthinking this thing a bit. Relax. It might not be as bad as you think."

Ever since I met Otonashi, he always told me that he wanted to be a doctor. The main reason he transferred to Kami High was because of the great medics major they offered. He never told me the details, but he said that someone close to him died a long time ago due to a severe illness. Since he didn't want anything like that to happen to anyone else, he studied hard to become a doctor. I had to admit, his kind of motivation was inspiring. I haven't met anyone else with such a strong drive like his.

"She's paralyzed from the waist down. She can still move her arms. She doesn't need me."

"Don't say that."

I stared down at my half-finished lunch, "It's the truth. And I think she knows that too. But she still clings onto me for her own personal reasons." I thought back to when I brought her to her house. And what her mom said to me.

* * *

It was nearly sunset by the time we went out of school. I thought of calling my own parents, to inform that I would be late since I was escorting a girl home.

I stopped. That almost sounded like she was my girlfriend, didn't it? No. I was her accomplice. It was natural for me to walk her home.

Yui was a slightly ahead of me, moving her wheelchair with little effort. I was starting to consider whether or not I was actually needed. She could get around by herself just fine. I think she knew that too, since she stubbornly refused my help back at the vending machine.

I remembered the books I read where the disabled person was the main character. He or she would always get annoyed over how people treated them with sympathy or acted overly sensitive about the topic of their disability. Their major pet peeve would always be when someone came up to them and asked how they got into that condition. Yui was paralyzed from the waist down, yet she didn't acted like those kind of people. Heck, she barely seemed bothered by the fact the rest of the school nicknamed her after a demon that represented one of the seven deadly sins. Maybe it was just her personality. Or maybe she was actually bothered by it, but just didn't show it.

"We're here!"

I looked up at the sound of Yui's shout, seeing her pointing to a house right before us.

The area around the house was entirely flat, perfect for a girl on a wheelchair. The house itself was wide, with a long, low rooftop. The yard in front of the house was covered in lush green grass. Usually, people would decorate their front yard with flowers or garden gnomes but no such thing was here. A small driveway stretched from the white door of the garage to the street beside us. Yui calmly moved across the yard, heading for the front door.

She turned back to look at me, "Are you coming?"

"Y-Yeah..." I hurried to catch up with her. For some reason, I felt a little conscious. I wasn't sure what to expect. How would her family react? Usually, like in all movies and books, the parents of the disabled character would be overjoyed to see that their child finally made friends with someone that was "normal".

But life wasn't a movie or a book. Reality was always exaggerated, and the truth stretched out.

"Who is it?" The door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with her auburn hair tied in a bun. She smiled widely upon seeing the pink-haired girl in a wheelchair, "Welcome home, Yui! I was in the middle of making dinner. Do you want to take a bath?" That was when she noticed me, her eyes widening in surprise, "Oh...Whose this?"

"Hi-..." Yui scrunched her brow, "Hi-..." I felt like slapping my hand to my face. She forgot my name already.

"Hideki Hinata," I introduced myself, "I'm her accomplice from school starting today."

"Really? Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Hinata-kun. As you probably figured out already, I'm Yui's mom. Come inside if you like." Hm. She seemed delighted. Maybe she wasn't as different and unpredictable as Yui.

I stepped inside the living room, taking off my shoes and placed them on the side. Yui did the same and moved across the living room. The inside of the house was as spacious as it looked from outside. The rooms weren't stacked next to each other like a couple of books on a bookshelf. Instead, they flowed to the next, with only the bedrooms and the bathroom having a doorway to them. The house certainly was perfect for someone like Yui. She had no problem navigating her way around the furniture.

I plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV. It was surprisingly soft. I felt my body relax as I let weariness catch up with me. Today was a tiring day. I took in my surroundings, checking out the layout of the living room. The sofas were arranged in a wide semicircle in front of the TV, which was sitting on top of a glass platform held up by four small metal columns. Various lamps were set on top of glass coffee tables that were next to each sofa. A warm wave of heat came from the heater to the side, making me more relaxed than I have ever been. The one thing that caught my eye was a photo of a man on a small table beside the TV. A vase of flowers stood next to it along with an incense pot holding two burning sticks. Who was that?

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" asked Yui's mother, "I think there's enough for three people."

I turned down the offer, "No thanks. I think I'll go back home for dinner."

She nodded her head, as if she understood, "Alright. But you're always welcome whenever you come over."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Yui's mom smiled at me, though I was sure I saw sadness in her smile. Just as I thought that, a small tear rolled down from the corner of her eye and she hastily wiped it away.

"S-Sorry. I was just thinking about my husband." She reached for the photo I saw on the table, "My husband died in an accident. That was the same accident that caused Yui's paralysis. Ever since then, I worked to support both the house, myself, and Yui."

"Oh..." What was I suppose to say? I was afraid if I say something wrong she might break down in tears.

Her finger gently traced the face of Yui's father, "Yui had to stay in the hospital for about three months until the doctors were sure that she was okay. They were going to get her a physical therapist but...we didn't have the money. I let Yui spend a week off so she could get use to her wheelchair before going back to school. She had such a tough time. None of her friends could be her accomplice, since they all had club and team activities. Yui didn't want to disturb them."

So that's why the principal had no problem with me being her accomplice. I didn't had any club or team activities. Well...I used to be on the baseball team until...the most recent game. I tried hard to suppress the wave of depression that threatened to swallow me whole.

"I really appreciate you using your time to help her out. Even though the girl acts like nothing's wrong, she only does it so she won't cause me any worry. Can I trust that you will have her in your care?"

I hesitated. I wasn't the type to break promises. But I had only planned on looking after Yui until I graduated Kami High. I didn't think about what would happen to her once I left. Nor did I think about staying with her after graduation. To me, being Yui's accomplice, was a punishment by my team members for letting them down in the game.

"...Sure," I said at last.

* * *

"She's only using me to reassure her mom that she doesn't have to worry about her. 'She has someone to take care of her in her place.' That's what she wants her mom to think."

"Hey!"

I jumped out of my seat when someone shouted behind me. It was Yui, who had her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in a frown as she glared at me.

"I need your help."

"Which is...?"

She pointed to the lunch line, "I need to go get my lunch."

"And this has to do with me how?"

"I can't move my wheelchair if I'm holding a bowl of ramen. So that's where you come in."

I looked at Otonashi for some kind of help. He just shrugged, giving me a sheepish grin. Having another choice, I followed Yui to the lunch line.

* * *

**A/N: **I had problem with tensing in this chapter. Can anyone please notify me if you notice any mistakes? Or tell me if things are suppose to be present or past tense in first POV?


	4. Chapter 3

_Tap. Tap._

I rolled over my wheelchair to a tall sign post. I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand, checking to see if I got it right. "765, 32th street". The house before me had the numbers: "765" over the front door. Yep. This had to be it.

_Tap. Tap._

I glanced at my wristwatch to see what time it was. 7:30. I frowned. He should be up by now. I remembered clearly telling him before he left that he had to wake up at 7:30 so he could take me to school.

_Tap. Tap._

I was starting to fidget. What was taking him so long? Did he forget? In that case…

I moved towards the house and examined each window. I couldn't tell which room was his bedroom. Every window either had shades up or some other odd decoration up like a stuffed German shepherd dog dressed in a police uniform. That was when I noticed a baseball sitting next to the glass of one window. I smiled with triumph. Found it.

I checked the ground, looking for some kind of stone that I could throw. Finding a large stone among several pebbles, I bent over and held it in my hand. It was kind of bumpy. I couldn't get a good grip on it. I wondered if I could actually get it to hit his bedroom window.

Praying that I won't accidentally break the glass, I leaned back in my wheelchair and threw the stone with all my might. The stone struck the glass with a loud "thump" before falling down to the ground. I waited for a few minutes, wondering if he heard it at all. Right when I was just about to grab a handful of pebbles and try again, the window opened to reveal my sleepy accomplice and sempai.

Hinata's hair was unkempt, every strand of his hair sticking out. His shirt was badly wrinkled and his eyelids drooped a little. He looked around sleepily, and when his eyes met contact with mine's, he almost lost his grip on the windowsill.

"W-What are you doing here?" he asked as he balanced himself again.

"Don't you remember? I told you have to take me to school at 7:30 and now you totally overslept! Didn't you turn on your alarm clock?"

His eyes widened in realization when I gestured my watch at him, "Oh right! I completely forgot!" He ducked back into his room, leaving me to wait outside. My shoulders relaxed, relieved to know that he finally woke up.

* * *

I was still chewing down the last of my toast when I went out to meet Yui. My parents never bothered to wake me up when they went to work so I wasn't used to waking up this early. I felt a little dizzy. I reached my hand into my pocket, to make sure that the packet of pills was still there. I didn't get to take them this morning. I would take them in the boy's bathroom at school, when no one's looking.

"Are you coming?" Yui was already a few feet ahead of me, waiting by a lamppost. Her cheeks were puffed up in a look of annoyance.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I shouted back at her. Couldn't she give a man a moment of peace? When I finally caught up with her, my cellphone rang loudly in my bookbag.

Yui suddenly came to a stop, "What song is that?"

It was a rock song, the artist singing lyrics along to the drum beats and guitar riffs while my cellphone continued to ring.

"It's 'Alchemy' by Girls Dead Monsters. The members go to our school. Heard of them?" Girls Dead Monsters was a famous rock band that first started out as a regular school band at Kami High. I wasn't exactly sure how the band managed to rise to fame and release both an album and single. I remembered that Girls Dead Monsters always took first place in the band competitions and the leader, Asami Iwasawa, often sang their songs on the streets, just strumming her guitar. A talent scout found her that way and offered to make her band go official and enter the music business. It was an opportunity that was impossible to turn down.

She bobbed her head up and down excitedly, "Yes! I bought their single, album, and attended every single one of their concerts! Even the ones during the time when they weren't officially recognized yet!" Wow. She must be a serious fan. Usually, I would find this kind of dedication weird, but this was the first time I saw her so delighted. Her face was aglow, and her pink eyes sparkled with a strong admiration for the rock band.

"How did you have Alchemy as a ringtone?" she asked, "I want one too."

"I found it online. Just Google 'Alchemy ringtone'. It'll probably come up." I took out my cellphone and looked at the caller ID. "Yuzuru Otonashi". I held my phone to my ear, "Hello?"

"Hey, Hinata. You awake?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm heading to school right now. Listen, we need to meet up. You'll understand when I explain all of it to you later. Can you meet me at the baseball field during break time? And bring the girl with you, too."

"You mean Sloth Girl?" I didn't get it. What was Otonashi thinking?

"Yes. So can you come?"

"Sure," I replied, even though my stomach was churning at the thought of going back to that baseball field again. I prayed that none of my teammates would be practicing there when it was break time.

"Good. Relax, all right? I'll go early to check if anyone's there."

I smiled. Even though I hadn't said anything, Otonashi still remembered that I had an uneasy relationship with the baseball team nowadays.

"Thanks." Once I hung up, Yui immediately went into my line of sight, her face filled with curiosity.

"What happened? I was mentioned. Are we in trouble or something?"

"No. My friend just wants us to meet him during break time."

She put a finger on her chin, "Oh….You mean that orange-haired dude that was eating lunch with you yesterday?"

"That's him. And if you're going to ask what he wants us for, don't ask, because I don't know anymore better than you do."

Yui bit her lip, which showed that my guess was right. She went silent, taking interest in the trees growing alongside the sidewalk.

My thoughts went back to the Girls Dead Monsters band. Yui seemed to be such a hardcore fan of them. Then again, everyone loved them. To the point the entire school went through a short period of depression when they suddenly disbanded. Even the teachers were depressed, acting harsher on us than usual. I couldn't imagine Yui's face on that day. Did she break down in tears? I've never seen her sad. But she got into a car accident that paralyzed her. Did she cry when she found out her legs would never move again? And that her father was dead?

Now, the Girls Dead Monsters spent their days as regular students, no longer going to the music room for band practice or playing their instruments. Hisako, the lead guitarist, spent her lunchtimes playing mahjong….and cheating when she was sure no one was looking. Even though they had disbanded, some still kept their popularity among the school. Miyuki Irie, the drummer of the band, for example, would often receive confessions from various male classmates. In truth though, she would find out that they had a crush on her first, and then make them do something incredibly weird, just to see if they actually would. I still remember that one time when she made a boy come to a school with a giant afro.

I shuddered. I hoped that I never had to go through that. Shiori Sekine, the bass guitarist, had a fondness for telling stories. Whether it was about ghosts or her band members, it was a way of spending her time. I remembered that she wanted to publish a book about how her band members acted behind the scenes. But it was never published, thankfully, because I didn't think anyone wanted to find out about how Hisako cheats her way around mahjong, or how Irie would pull pranks just to see the expression on the person's face.

Iwasawa would've graduated by now. If she had been still around.

"Are you in touch with any of the Girls Dead Monsters' members?" Yui asked. She had the expression of a puppy that was eagerly waiting to be given a treat.

"….You're not thinking about meeting them, are you?"

She still stared at me with a hopeful look on her face.

I wasn't sure if I should introduce her to them. She might be disappointed. Then again, I've known them for a while now and was used to their odd personalities. But still, none of them gave off much of a superstar presence. Iwasawa was the only one of the members who ever came close to that, due to her vast passion for music. Except…well….she wasn't in Kami High anymore.

"They're kind of busy. Besides, I think they would be uncomfortable meeting a fan of theirs after they disbanded."

"But why?" she whined, "I just want to see them in person! I'm not going to ask for an autograph. I promise!" Her gaze was unwavering as she looked up at me with determination.

I gave her a look, "You sure?"

"I swear on my stuffed sloth." For some reason, she said it with a serious face. I didn't even ask her to swear on anything. Much less a stuffed animal.

"It's not really about you bothering them. It's-"

Before I could finish, someone came up from behind me and roughly wrapped an arm around my neck. The sight of a wooden katana came into my view. At first, I thought I was being mugged of my money. But then I saw Yui right in front of me, staring straight at the guy who kept his grip around my neck. If I was being mugged, Yui would've been in danger as well, or at least be calling the police, but she just sat there on her wheelchair.

"Hinata! I'm so glad I found you!"

I wiggled out of the person's grip, "Fujimaki! It's you!"

Fujimaki grinned, "Yo." He was a teenage boy my age with slanted eyebrows and dark hair. This look made him the frequent target of being compared to the likes of a delinquent. In a way, they were partially right.

"You know you should stop doing that. People are going to mistaken you for being some kind of mugger." I motioned my hand to Yui, who was still staring at Fujimaki with an expression that was a mix of interest and caution.

"Hey. There's not enough room in my bookbag for this thing." He waved his wooden katana in the air, "It's not like I'm going to use it against anyone. Unless _they're _the ones trying to mug _me_."

"You know when you talk like that, you sound like Noda." Noda was a guy in one of Otonashi's classes and claims to have a rivalry with him. He was all muscle, no brains. None of us paid much attention to him though.

"Except he's more idiotic than me."

"And very short-tempered."

We both glanced around to see if he was passing by, and heard our conversation. We weren't afraid of Noda. Honestly, he wasn't as scary when you got to find out his weaknesses. But we didn't want to deal with him early in the morning.

"'Noda'? You mean that sempai who scared away a couple of freshmen after the entrance ceremony?" Yui asked.

"Sounds like him. Wait. What about the entrance ceremony?"

"I heard there was a sempai who was sleeping near the track field. For some reason, a couple of freshmen went there to hang out and apparently, they were so loud that they woke him up and….yeah…."

She didn't need to finish the rest of the sentence. I could pretty much guess what happened next. The image of screaming students running away from a berserk teenager wielding a long axe prop surfaced in my mind.

"Anyway, Hinata, I need your help." Fujimaki said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Is it a life-or-death situation?"

"No, but it's the last day I get to hand my paper in. And the teacher said he won't excuse me this time. Which means….if I don't get it in by today, I'm going to get a failing grade, and my parents are going to kill me!" He was almost on his knees, begging.

"Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask Ooyama?" Ooyama was Fujimaki's friend and my classmate. It was hard to describe him. The only word that could best fit him was…generic. He had no specialty, nor did he have any astounding physical traits that set him aside from everyone else.

"I tried to. But Ooyama started saying that I should've finished it in the first place and take responsibility."

"He's got a point though."

"So are you going to help me? I _do _care about my grades, you know."

Yui tugged at my sleeve. She showed me her watch. The time now was 7:50. Damn it. School was going to start soon. Luckily, we were approaching the gates. Numerous students were either chatting or making their way to first period class.

"Um…." I desperately tried to think up some kind of distraction. Then I spotted a tall guy wearing glasses. "Why don't you ask Takamatsu? I'm sure he got a higher grade than me on the paper anyway."

Fujimaki seemed convinced by my suggestion, "Well, that is true….Alright! I'll go ask him!" He hurried over with his wooden katana, asking Takamatsu about the paper.

I let out a sigh of relief. At least Takamatsu had the looks of the smart guy. But in reality, he was as just as idiotic as everyone else in this damn school….Including me.

"Are you taking me there or what?"

Yui was still in front of me, her cheeks puffed out. Her hands were placed on her hips, waiting for me impatiently.

"What are you talking about?"

"The only way I'll be able to get to class through that crowd of people is if you be my 'navigator'."

"Your navigator? Why?"

She stuck out her tongue, "Because you are my accomplice."

I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior. But I knew that I couldn't really argue against that.

"Where's your classroom?"

"Second floor. Room 2B."

On the same floor as my homeroom. At least I don't have to worry about getting too late. I grabbed the back handles of her wheelchair and pushed her forward. She just placed her hands on her lap, enjoying the somewhat smooth ride. I helped her steer around the crowd of students. Now I understood the frustrations that came with being on a wheelchair. With so many people around, it was hard to avoid bumping into them and asking them to make way. The crowd seemed to grow and grow as the minutes ticked by.

"Ah, Hinata!"

Ooyama waved his hand as high as he could over the sea of heads in the hallway. I was too busy trying to squeeze between two muscular guys without accidentally pissing them off to greet back. Then again, with his brown hair and short stature, I would've had trouble spotting him anyway.

He managed to get past the moving crowd of students and moved to where I was, leaning slightly against Yui's wheelchair from exhaustion.

"What's wrong, Hinata? You look tired."

"Don't…talk…to me…" I muttered. At this rate, there was no way we could both make it to class on time.

Meanwhile, Ooyama and Yui were having a conversation.

"Who are you?"

"M-Me? I'm O-Ooyama. Nice to meet you! Um….Are you the…?"

"Belphegor? Yep. That's me."

"Oh….It must be hard….Are you and Hinata trying to get to class?"

"Yeah. But he's taking too slow." She sighed, "If only my legs could move, I would get to class faster…"

That gave me an idea. It might just work. And it wasn't likely there will be any consequences since there were so many kids that the principal didn't bother patrolling.

I grabbed Ooyama by the shoulders, "Ooyama. I'm about to include you in the most dangerous of missions ever, are you ready?"

He blinked, "….What will I exactly be doing?"

"You're ready. Good. Don't worry. All you have to do is carry Sloth Girl's wheelchair and follow me." I turned to Yui, "How many minutes do we have left?"

"Six minutes! How long are you going to-"I cut her off by swiftly lifting her out of her seat and carrying her in my arms, bridal style. Naturally, she immediately started flailing about the instant she realized she was in my arms.

"W-What are you doing? Put me down!" Her hand narrowly missed my face.

"Hey, watch it! Do you want to get to class or not?" Apparently, this made her shut up, but it didn't calm the fiery glare she sent in my direction. "Ooyama, you can carry Sloth Girl's wheelchair now."

He obediently followed my orders, "Wait, I don't get it. What am I suppose to do?"

Ignoring him, I ran through the hallways, ducking and weaving my way through the crowd. My objective was to reach and run up the staircase as fast as I could.

"Out of my way! Disabled girl coming through!" I shouted to people as I passed. In response, Yui punched my chest, almost causing me to stop in my tracks.

"Don't yell it to the world!" I managed to regain my composure and continue to make my way around the crowd. I kicked open the door to the staircase and went up to the second floor. I had a bit more trouble than in the hallway, since I had to make sure Yui's feet didn't accidentally hit anyone's head. Finally, I was on the second floor and in front of the 2B classroom. Most of her classmates were already inside. Her homeroom teacher was writing something on the board with her back turned to most of them. Good. A perfect chance to sneak in.

"H-Hinata! Wait up!" Ooyama was behind me, panting heavily. Yui's wheelchair was folded up and wrapped securely in his arms.

"Can you…Can you unfold the wheelchair?" I asked. I was going to drop her any moment now.

After catching his breath, Ooyama unfolded the wheelchair and I gently placed Yui back on her trusty locomotive. I think I caught a whiff of her perfume. It smelled…..nice.

But that moment was ruined when she quickly opened the door to her classroom and went inside. I peered through the window to see her safely go over to her desk, the teacher not even noticing her when she turned around to take the attendance. Mission accomplished.

* * *

The first thing I did once I saw Hinata was to roll over his feet with my wheelchair. He yelped and bent over in pain. Hmph. Serves him right.

"What was that for?"

"For embarrassing me." I still didn't forgive him for carrying me in the hallway.

"So? It's not like no one in this school know you're paralyzed."

"That's not what I meant," I huffed.

"Then what do you mean?"

"Forget it." I turned away so I could avoid his questioning stare. Why did he have to treat me like some fragile girl that needed to be taken care of in front of the entire school population? I already have the principal fussing over me. It's not like I'm fully paralyzed. I could still move my arms and head.

"So where are we going?" I asked him, trying to change the subject, "You said we had to meet your friend."

"He said we should meet him at the baseball field," He replied. Hinata was leading me along, taking us to the back of the school. The back doors swung open, letting strong sunlight pour into the building. I had to shield my eyes while Hinata guided my wheelchair outside. We were at the track field. In the distance, I could see the green fence that separated the track field from the baseball field. It was so easy to spot with all the lush greenery surrounding the infield. When we reached the entrance, there was a guy with orange hair standing by the home plate talking to a short girl with long white hair.

"Oi! Otonashi!" Hinata called to his friend.

The orange-haired guy turned around and saw us, "Hinata! You came!"

"'Course I did." That was when he noticed the girl standing next to him, "Huh? You are….?"

"…..Tachibana. Kanade Tachibana," the girl said in a soft voice.

"Tachibana….Wait a minute, President?" I recognized the long white hair and emotionless golden eyes from the girl who talked to me the first day I came back to school. "What are you doing here?" She blinked wordlessly, still as silent as the day I met her.

The Otonashi dude answered for her, "She was talking to me about the reason why I brought you here."

This also interested Hinata, "And that reason is….?"

Otonashi bit his bottom lip, hesitating, "Well…." He shot a glance in the Student Council President's direction, "The principal….had this idea. He thought, that well, since your mom can't afford getting a physical therapist for you, he would try to get one of the best students with medical knowledge to help you which is….me." His red eyes bore into my pink ones with a gaze that was silently asking for my approval. I stared into them, looking for any sign of sympathy. Signs that he was only doing this because he felt sorry for me.

None. This took me back a little. What was his real intention? I couldn't tell. The only thing I could figure out was that he really wanted to do this. And he needed my approval in order to go through with this.

"…Okay. I look forward to working with you." I bowed my head politely before my new sempai. I couldn't deny the flutter of excitement in my stomach. If my paralysis could be healed through physical therapy, then maybe I wouldn't be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Mom wouldn't have to worry anymore. I could already imagine being able to move my whole body again. Playing soccer, hitting a home run, doing wrestling…

My train of thought was interrupted by the voice from President, who was telling something to Hinata.

"The principal said that every break time you guys should meet here and have the therapy sessions here. Even though Yuzuru is the one who's holding the therapy sessions, you have to be there, Hinata-kun. I'll make sure that no one comes and use the field during break time."

"Oh…Thanks." Even though she said that, he still had a look of worry on his face.

I tapped my fingers impatiently against the handle of my wheelchair, "Enough chitchat already. Can we start now?"

Otonashi nodded, "Sure. First, can you flex your toes?"

"Only one." There was this one toe that twitched ever so often. When the doctor found out, I was so delighted to even know at least some part of my body still moved.

"Try flexing it. Here." He bent down and helped me take off my shoes and socks. I stared down at my big toe, which twitched back and forth. I closed my eyes and placed my hands to my head, trying to use all of my concentration to make the toe move.

"Hmm…"

"What are you doing? Meditation?" Hinata asked, amused.

"Shut up," I snapped. He almost broke my concentration. I opened one eye to see that my toe didn't move at all. I let out a frustrated sigh. This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Why can't I just do something else like standing? Won't it be faster then?"

"You can't. You want to start out small," Otonashi explained, "Besides, there's no way you'll be able to stand in a day."

"Yes, I can!" To show him, I started to lift myself up from my chair with my arms. I wanted to move again. I _needed _to move again. But just as soon I was let go of my wheelchair, I almost toppled forward, if someone's arm had not gotten in the way. I looked up to see Hinata, who was holding me back with his arm and helping me sit back in my wheelchair. Once I was in the safety of my wheelchair, I knocked his arm aside, angry that he had to help me up.

"Why did you help me? I was doing just fine!"

"And let you fall flat on your face in the grass? I don't think so," he retorted.

Otonashi sided with him, "He's right, you know. You can't expect to be able to move instantly. I'm no miracle worker. This process can take years in order for you to move again." I avoided his gaze, unable to look at him in the eye. I knew he was right. Yet a part of me didn't want to acknowledge that. If only….If only I could move again…life would be so much easier for my mom and me.


	5. Chapter 4

"How come you transferred to Kami High?"

Yui was chatting away with Otonashi while I lazily took bites out of my riceball. It was now an everyday occurrence for Yui to eat lunch with us. After I help her get lunch, she would rush to our table, amiably chatting with us.

I noticed a few people looking our way, who then quickly looked away the second their eyes caught mine. News was spreading fast around the school about how an ex-member of Kami High's baseball team was now the accomplice of the famous Belphegor. Everyone was probably wondering, including me, why the principal would be so cruel to put the losers together. But of course, the only one not wondering about that would be the very people who persuaded the principal to make me Yui's accomplice in the first place.

The baseball team was in the back of the cafeteria, cheerily exchanging fist bumps and wolfing their lunch down. Even from where we were, you could hear snippets of their conversation; harmless statements that still made my stomach churn with uneasiness. I rested my head on the table, desperately trying to tune them out.

"Funny. A lot of people would usually transfer to Kami High just to see the Girls Dead Monsters band." Yui giggled, "Though I don't really blame them." Then something caught her attention, putting an end to the conversation.

"What's that?"

I sat up to see a group of students seated around a table across from us, shuffling various mahjong tiles. I recognized Fujimaki and Ooyama among them, staring intently down on their tiles. They were playing against TK, a guy with a red bandanna covering his eyes, and Hisako, the lead guitarist of Girls Dead Monsters. I looked at Yui, who was staring at her with a stunned look on her face. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Hisako usually didn't play mahjong in public. Her manager said gambling would ruin her image, forcing her to play the game with her friends in the basement afterschool. Though I guess it really didn't matter now since the band disbanded.

Hisako throws a stick out on the table, "Calling ready!" In no time at all, she presented her mahjong tiles to the rest of the group, arranged neatly into one straight row, "Won by discard. Ready hand one-shot, all simples no pointer. Adding the inner dora, that's max points."

I hear Yui gasp in admiration next to me. But I knew there was no way that Hisako could have gotten that just by pure luck. I notice the three tiles hidden in her hand, making three melds instead of four. I waited for someone to point this out, to realize it was a little too extreme to get at the start of the game.

Fujimaki clicks his tongue, "Tch. Take it." He tosses the point stick over to Hisako, who gave a smug smile in his direction.

A sign of more chaos to come.

At the next turn, she hid four more tiles in her hand, leaving her only six out on the table. I was sure she was going to be caught this time. It was just too unnatural.

"Calling ready!" Ooyama takes a tile from the pile. Despair fills his face when he stared at the tile in his hand, "Aw…..This one's bad news…." He tossed it out.

"Won by discard."

"Wait, who won by what?" Ooyama was bewildered as Hisako presented seven tiles to him.

"I won by your discard. Thirteen wonders. A double ultimate maxer."

"That's not possible! And why do you have seven tiles?"

"It's thirteen. Oh, and they're all in the same suit. That's a triple ultimate maxer."

"Ah…Ah…." Ooyama was speechless, but not out of admiration like Fujimaki and TK.

"I've never seen a thirteen wonders in the same suit before…"

That's because it's not possible, Fujimaki.

Yui is leaning forward from her seat, her mouth open in an "O". I expected her to say something about how she would have never thought Hisako would gamble or cheat. But the words that came out of her mouth were something else entirely.

"Wow~! Hisako-sempai is so cool when playing mahjong!" she squealed, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

I nearly slid out of my seat. Wait, what?

"She managed to get a max pointer on the first turn! So cool!"

"How can you call cheating cool?"

"Because there's no way I can keep a straight face if I do that in a real game of mahjong," she replied, as if it was obvious.

My shoulders sagged as I stared at her in disbelief. I knew I shouldn't be surprised by now at her simple way of thinking, but I just couldn't keep up with her.

"Excuse me? Hisako-san?" I looked up to see Yui standing right before Hisako. Oddly enough, Yui was twiddling her thumbs nervously, a coy expression on her face. What in the world happened to the energetic and talkative Yui I knew?

Hisako looked up at her from her game, which made Yui even more flustered, "And you are…?"

"I'm Yui, also known as Bel-chan," she said, introducing herself with a bow of her head. "And um…..I'm a really, big, big fan of yours so…" She seemed to be at a loss for words, struggling to come up with what to say next, "Uh….ifyoudon'tmindcanIhaveyourautograph?" Yui let out the rest of her sentence in one breath. Gah….She was making herself look more pathetic than she already was.

Hisako blinked. I expected her to say "no". She was the least approachable out of the Girls Dead Monsters band. Probably because of the "tough" vibe she gave off.

"Sure," she replied, taking me by surprise. Hisako took the piece of tissue Yui handed her and wrote her signature on it with a pen. She handed it back with a small smile, "Here you go."

Yui's face brightened, "Thank you!" She went back to our table with a big smile on her face. I'm sure if she could walk, she would be skipping all over the place.

"I'm surprise you went up to talk to her," Otonashi remarked, "Most people are scared by Hisako-san."

"Hisako-san's not scary!" she protested, "She's absolutely cool! The way she sparkles and does those guitar riffs on stage is just awesome! And she has a Fender Jazzmaster guitar! It's the perfect guitar to play high overtones!"

"High overtones?"

"Yep. With the Fender Jazzmaster, depending on the position of the strings, a high overtone can rise in volume. But if you're using it for staccato playing, it can be annoying, so you have to mute the string fields behind the bridge," Yui explained breathlessly.

I was speechless by this sudden lecture on guitar playing by Yui. Otonashi's facial expression matched mine's; trying to properly digest all of this information she just gave.

"You…know a lot about guitars, don't you?" he asked.

She giggled, "Well, I do have my own guitar at home."

"You play guitar?" I asked her in disbelief.

"What? Is it that surprising?"

"No…..Not really…." Though when I think about it, it kind of made sense. Considering she's such a big fan of the Girls Dead Monsters band. Not to mention, it kind of matched her image. An image of Yui singing to punk rock music crossed my mind.

No….I just couldn't imagine it at all. Her personality was nothing like a rock star.

"My guitar is a Gibson SG special electric guitar. The SG special doesn't have the neck binding and the trapezoid fret inlays like the other models of the series, but it still has the has a volume and tone knob and a three-way selector switch," she boasted, puffing out her (flat) chest with pride.

"I don't know what to say to that…." Otonashi muttered. My thoughts exactly.

"How in the world do you know so much about guitars?" Did she look it up or something?

"When I was at the hospital, I happened to see Girls Dead Monsters on TV. From the instant I heard Iwasawa-san sing the first lyric to 'Crow Song', I fell in love with the band. And I just knew I had to become a singer like them!"

I sweatdropped, "Just from seeing them on the TV?"

"You wouldn't understand! The sound of Iwasawa-san's strong voice…The way her lyrics reach to your heart….I was inspired then! Luckily, I was sharing a room with a fellow guitarist. Unfortunately, I was released from the hospital before she did, but she managed to teach me some things before she left. After researching some more, I begged my mom if we could buy a guitar."

"Aren't electric guitars expensive though?" Otonashi wondered, "And you have to get an amplifier, a tuner, and a pedal too."

"They are, but my mom said 'yes' so we saved up whatever money we could get. We kept our groceries limited and I even picked up loose change from the sidewalk!"

"What are you, some desperate beggar?"

"You wouldn't know how hard it is to earn money, useless dog."

"How did I go from a cockroach to a dog?"

"Since you're supposed to be my servant, I can't exactly call you a cockroach now, can I?"

"I am your _accomplice._ I help you out with whatever you can't do because of your disability. A servant just carries whatever order the master assigns them to do. There's a difference."

"But either way, I get benefited, right? Like how a disabled person gets benefits from her accomplice, a master gets benefits from having a servant there."

"That absolutely makes no sense whatsoever."

"Anyway, when we finally had enough money, we went to the store to buy one," Yui rambled on, ignoring me, "The instant I saw my SG special, it felt like destiny! You know how like two lovers look at each other in the eye and just know that they're meant for each other? Yep, that what it was like when my eyes laid on my SG special. I just knew it was my destiny to have the SG special as my guitar! Ever since then, I've been practicing on my guitar everyday! Oh, and my vocals too."

Her pink eyes were sparkling and her whole face was aglow as she said this. She always seemed to have this look on her face whenever she talked about the band or about music in general. I thought about what she said about trying to earn enough money for the guitar. I wondered what her mother thought when she begged her to buy her a guitar. Did she say 'no' at first, thinking it was too much money for them to afford? Or did she say 'yes' right away, wanting her daughter to be happy despite the cost?

"I know! I'll bring my guitar some time and play for you guys! Hinata-sempai here can bring the stuff for me."

"Don't decide things on your own!"

"Do I look like I can carry that much stuff on my own? Besides, if there isn't enough room on my wheelchair, I won't feel comfortable."

I was about to retort when the loud speaker blared to life with a screech. Everyone winced at the noise, including us, wondering what was going on.

"….You use the speaker like this, President."

"Hello?" Unfortunately for Kanade, her voice came out as another loud screech on the loud speaker. Both Otonashi and I exchanged looks. We knew very well that Kanade was just as clumsy with the loud speaker as she was with her social skills.

A sigh could be heard from Naoi on the other side of the speaker, "Back away from the mic a little so it doesn't come out so loud."

"...How's this?"

"Just fine, President."

"Can Yui from…class 2B come to the main office please?"

I tapped Yui on the shoulder, who had her hands over her ears to protect her eardrums, "Hey, they're calling for you."

She let her hands drop to the handles of her wheelchair, "Huh? What for?"

"How should I know? Maybe something happened."

"Maybe something-" She suddenly let out a sharp gasp, her eyes wide with fear, "It can't be….You're coming with me!" Yui quickly swiveled her wheelchair around and headed for the exit.

"Sloth girl, wait!" I called after her. When I stepped forward to chase after her, a wave of nausea hit me, causing me to fall to my knees.

"Hinata!" Otonashi ran to my side, his hands on my shoulders. "Hinata, are you okay?"

"I'm….I'm fine." My voice was muffled because of my hand clasped over my mouth. I was afraid I was going to barf any moment. "Where's the sloth girl?"

"She's stuck." Yui's wheelchair was caught between the side of the doorway and the door. When she tried to push away the door, it would just slam back at her wheelchair. "You'd better go and help her."

Taking in a deep breath and shakily rising to my feet, the nausea faded away, leaving me a deep feeling of relief. I headed for the exit to help out Yui, ignoring the questioning stares Otonashi gave me. That was a close. I fingered the tube hidden in my right pocket, swallowing down whatever was left of my guilt.

* * *

"Slow down!"

I didn't listen to him, determined to get to the main office as fast as I could. This happened once before, and it wasn't exactly a fun experience.

"I'm here!" I announced the second I swung open the door to the main office. Several teachers looked up from their desks, confused on why a student would loudly come into the main office during lunch period.

"Took you long enough." Naoi, the vice president was standing by one of the desks, his arms folded across his chest.

"Where's the president?"

"I sent her to the cafeteria since you were taking so long. But since they're serving mapo tofu today…I doubt she heard a word I said."

"Naoi…? What…What are you doing here?"

Hinata was leaning against the door for support, panting heavily. He staggered over and dropped to his knees to place his chin on the handle of my wheelchair. And this was the guy who was supposed to be my accomplice.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Yui-san, but apparently your mom fell sick with a fever at work today. Do you want to go home so you can take care of her?"

Hinata shot up, now fully alert, "Wait, your mom's sick?"

"Yes," I replied, answering both Naoi's and Hinata's question.

Naoi nodded, "I understand. Now go accompany her home, scum, since it's your job in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Hinata grumbled as he turned around my wheelchair. From the look on his face, I guessed that he was pretty used to being ordered around by the Vice President.

"Do you guys know each other?" I whispered to him as we walked out of the office and into the hallway. "Like, childhood friends or something?"

"Friends? Pfft," Hinata snorted, "You've seen how he acts towards other people. All high and mighty. The only reason why we know each other is because we're both close to Otonashi."

"You sound like you wished you didn't."

"Of course. He thinks he knows Otonashi better than I do and he needs him more than me."

I frowned, "Are you…?"

"I'm not!" he objected a little too quickly.

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to ask you whether or not you're actually coming with me to see my mom."

"Oh…." He cleared his throat awkwardly, regaining whatever composure he had left, "'Course I'm coming, I doubt you can actually do anything to help her anyway."

I pout, "Yes, I can!" Even though I knew it was the truth, it still stung when he said it aloud.

"Keep dreaming." We were approaching the front doors of the school. A teacher nodded to us politely as he opened the door for us. We thanked him as Hinata gently pushed my wheelchair forward into the world outside. It reminds me of the time when my mom first took me out of the hospital. I was thrilled to be finally released from that spot on that hospital bed, yet I couldn't get rid of the sinking realization that I wasn't entirely free.

"It happened before."

"What?" Hinata looks down at me, a questioning look on his face.

My throat tightens, almost making it difficult to reply, "My mom. Getting sick." He doesn't seem surprised, still staring down at me expectantly for me to say more. So I continue, "My mom often works as often as she can since she has to cover for all those medical bills and stuff like that. Usually, something like this rarely happens, but when she works past her limits, she gets sick." I expect him to make a comment, saying that he's "sorry" to hear that, or just stare at me dumbfounded.

He stops pushing me, the wheels of my wheelchair making a slight creak as we slid to a stop.

"We're here," he announces. I notice my house out before me, which I had lived in since I was small. Ironic, considering my house's design was perfect for someone bound to a wheelchair.

We go forward, with my head held high. I wasn't going to greet my mom with a gloomy look on my face. I take the house keys out of my pocket and hand them to Hinata so he could open the door.

"Mom, we're home!" I call out. There's no response as Hinata rolled my wheelchair through the living room. As we continued through the several passageways of my house, I saw the lights in the bathroom turned on. The cupboard just above the sink was wide open. Several small boxes and bottles filled up the shelves of the cupboard. A lot of it was still intact, except for a bottle of pills that was over on its side, barely staying on the edge of its shelf. It was the cupboard we used to store our medications, save for a box of floss and some cosmetics I put in there.

"Yui? You there?"

I turn my head in the direction of the sound, "Mom?"

"I'm in my room, honey."

Hinata pushes me to the doorway where the voice came from. I reached out my hand to push the door open to see my mom lying in her bed, her eyes heavy with weariness.

"Hello, Hinata-kun." She greets him with a tired smile.

"Mom!" Hinata lets me go as I shot forward in my wheelchair to go up and hug her. She laughed lightly as she soothingly patted my back.

"I'm sorry to worry you. It's just a slight fever. I'll be fine after I get some rest." I notice some lines on her face that wasn't there before. I knew she was probably taking longer shifts again. How was it that I never noticed these things until later?

"Did you eat anything?"

"Not yet."

"Okay then! Be right back!" I turned my wheelchair around and headed out the door. I wanted to do something to help her. It pained me to see her just trying her best everyday to support me because of my disability.

"Sloth girl, wait up!" Hinata stopped me just as I was about to enter the kitchen. "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm going to cook something for Mom," I told him, as if it was obvious.

"Like hell you are. You can't even reach the stove."

"I can at least try, can I?" I glare at him, hoping that it was enough to make him shut up. I didn't want him butting in. _I _wanted to be the one to help Mom. If I had someone help me again, my attempts just to make her the one happy instead of me would go to waste.

He shook his head, stubborn, "No. I'm not going to risk you getting a burn. Besides, you might cook up some concoction that will make your mom even sicker."

"I will not!" I protested, "The last time I cooked something for Mom the only thing that happened was that the smoke detector went off."

Hinata gave me a dubious look, "How is that suppose to convince me?" Taking off the jacket of his school uniform, he placed it on a nearby chair. "Guess I have no choice. I'll make up something for your mom."

"No!" I move forward, blocking him, "I'll do it myself. She's my mom."

"Well, I'm your accomplice. And if anything happens to you, I have to take responsibility." He pulled back his sleeves and turned on the stove. I sulked as I watched him, feeling useless. "If you really want to do something for your mom, then just don't get into any trouble."

Unable to come up with a response, I just sunk back in my wheelchair sulkily. He just didn't understand. He never had his mom working long shifts just to support the two of them. He never saw his mom walk with slow and tired steps and smiled at him with strained effort.

He never felt the frustration of being unable to do anything at all.


End file.
